A conventional scanning system used for scanning a medium and reproducing an image of the medium typically includes a light source and a sensor array, such as a charge coupled device (CCD), which includes light receptors which can detect variations in light intensity and frequency. As such, the light source illuminates a surface of the medium and the sensor array converts reflected light from the surface into electrical signals. Thus, the electrical signals can then be stored in a file, manipulated by programs, and/or used for reproduction of the image.
The conventional scanning system is often incorporated into peripheral devices such as copiers, scanners, facsimiles, or multi-functional peripheral devices which combine the functions of two or more of these devices. Such devices often include automatic document feeders which are used to automatically feed one or more loose sheets of the medium into the respective devices for processing. As such, the automatic document feeders require that the medium be oriented in a specific manner. More specifically, the automatic document feeders require that the medium be positioned in one of two orientations: face-up or face-down.
Unfortunately, the automatic document feeders of different devices often require different orientations of the medium for feeding the medium into the respective device. For example, some devices require that the medium be oriented face-up while other devices require that the medium be oriented face-down. Thus, a user of such devices must always be cognizant of the required orientation for feeding the medium into a particular device.
Understandably, if the user is required to sporadically, or even routinely, use multiple devices, the user may not always remember the required orientation for feeding the medium into the device being used. Thus, the user may not receive the desired output from the device. For example, if the user orients the medium face-up while the device requires that the medium be oriented face-down, the opposite side of the medium than that desired by the user will be processed, often to the chagrin of the user.
In addition, the conventional scanning system must process a group of medium including both single-sided images and double-sided images as a group of medium including all single-sided images or as a group of medium including all double-sided images. Unfortunately, processing the group of medium as medium including all single-sided images results in less than all of the images being processed. Thus, an integrity or completeness of the group of medium is diminished. To include the missing images, the medium including double-sided images must be reprocessed and the resulting images manually collated with the previously reproduced images.
In addition, processing the group of medium as medium including all double-sided images results in unnecessary routing of the medium through a duplexer only to reproduce blank images on a backside of the images being reproduced if double-sided output is selected. Thus, a throughput and/or performance of the system is degraded since all of the medium is routed through the duplexer regardless of whether the medium includes single-sided images or double-sided images.
Alternatively, processing the group of medium as medium including all double-sided images results in sheets of blank images being unnecessarily formed if single-sided output is selected. Understandably, these sheets of blank images represent a back-side of the medium having only single-sided images. Thus, resources of the system, namely print medium, are wasted since these sheets of blank images are often discarded.
Accordingly, a need exists for an image scanning system which scans a medium and reproduces an image of the medium regardless of an orientation of the medium. In addition, a need exists for an image scanning system which processes a group of medium including both single-sided images and double-sided images without compromising integrity or performance of the system and/or wasting resources.